Motorola’s new site too flashy?

NFL corporate sponsor, Motorola, recently launched a tailgate-themed, promotional Website. It’s a nice looking, flash-based site with lot’s of “hidden” surprises.

They’ve found a way to subtly embed their product messages as well.

Despite its pleasant asthetic, my overall reaction is that this site is overdesigned (flash, graphics) and not as clever (from a marketing perspective) as it could be. Here’s why:

First of all, the micro-site is Flash-and-graphics-heavy, so it can be slow to respond. This would be OK if I knew from the outset exactly why I would want to explore the site, but I don’t. Why should I explore?

I can almost hear the creative session: “let’s make it purposefully vague, like a computer game, so fans will need to poke around to DISCOVER what’s there! Young men LOVE this kind of thing!” Brilliant?

I smell an agency!!

(Before I go on, let me offer this disclaimer to cover my rear just a bit: I definitely don’t want to diss Motorola here. They’re a great customer and a fantastic brand. I simply want to offer my reactions to this effort in hopes that it might inspire success).

I do (on the other hand) want to diss the agency that sold this site to Motorola. (Lord, I pray it wasn’t done in house. Gulp).

The site has the right idea, but it doesn’t compel me to dig into it.

It doesn’t show me how Motorola is relevant to the NFL. It puts the two brands near eachother, but fails to integrate them effectively, and therefore has little chance of tapping the emotions of NFL fans, or catching any viral buzz, which I’m guessing is the sole reason it was created.

For a solid example of on-line brand building, see Chunky Soup’s Click for Cans promotion.

I see the coaches wearing Motorola headsets, I go to Motorola.com, and what do I find?

If you go to the Motorola corporate Website, you won’t find ANY mention of the NFL on the home page. Searching for NFL on the corporate site brings up a long list of (mostly dated) press releases. I did find the “Hello Moto” landing page had some mention of the NFL.

Go to Motorola.com and you WILL find a splash page and links to the (product) RED campaign, which seeks to raise awareness and money for the cause of AIDS in Africa. This is an awesome program and Motorola is smart to tie-in, but as with the NFL, there doesn’t seem to be any real passion for the cause exhibited here.

Here’s some copy for the Motorola Website:

Motorola scores as the Official Wireless Communications Sponsor of the National Football League (NFL). In the NFL, communication is essential to winning games. For the fifth consecutive season, Motorola wireless communications have enhanced the game of football by improving communications between referees, coaches and quarterbacks, and support personnel. Not only is Motorola’s technology a vital part of the game, but it helps keep the lines of communication open off the field throughout the year.

Motorola products have also streamlined the instant replay challenge. At the push of a button, a coach can challenge a call and signal the referee — who is wearing a Motorola vibrating pager — and the replay booth simultaneously. This technology makes the game more efficient and exciting for everyone involved.

Motorola provides fans exciting ways to experience the NFL magic throughout the season. Motorola’s NFL-themed Web site offers officially licensed NFL accessories that you can personalize with your favorite team.

For more information about Motorola’s involvement with this sponsorship, please contact [email protected]

You see? Pretty corporate stuff

A big, global brand like Motorola has the muscle and the money to do things right. Everything they do is first class, and www.motorola.com/nfl is no exception. It ‘looks” great.

But I can’t help thinking that their message would be more credible – and more engaging – if they put their hearts into it a bit more. But they won’t be able to do that if they put a typical ad agency in charge. It’s difficult to tap the ethos of any group without an experienced guide. The NFL seems fairly straightforward. Every fan thinks he can market this product. But that’s not the case.

In the NFL, the best marketing tour guides are the teams themselves.

Perhaps if Motorola worked directly with the 32 NFL teams to create “in-market” promotions to bring their message to where the fans really live. At very least, they could create landing pages on the team Website to funnel traffic to their NFL themed, Web promotion. This would be easy enough to test. Just call one team, the Colts for example, and we’ll help you set it up .

Off the top of my head, here’s an idea…

For example, the Colts already have two wireless sponsors who sell Motorola products, Cingular and Sprint. Why not partner with Cingular inside the Wireless Section of Colts.com, where a Motorola phone is already featured? In addition, they could partner with Sprint which owns the rights to wireless NFL highlights, and also has rights to proprietary Colts content. Both these sponsorships could be leveraged inside the Indy DMA (to drive retail traffic) and on Colts.com to drive traffic to brand websites or into E commerce storefronts. They could also be leveraged to tap into the Colts national fan base, which at last count was nearing 6 million Americans.

And what about next generation social networks?

These two articles point to the coming wave of mobile applications for social networks:

1. Social Media Goes Mobile

2. Cingular offers Myspace access via cell phones

How can Motorla leverage its NFL sponsorship to ride this wave?

Working with the Colts as we develop our social networking platform, Motorola would get a chance to learn more about its own customers and prospects. Motorola could use what it learns with the Colts to power larger-scale strategies across its NFL sponsorship and every other facet of its integrated marketing and branding campaigns. We have the software developers, creatives, designers, strategists and service personnel to deliver a turn-key promotion. I suspect other teams have similar capabilities. Why not use them?

No such thing as constructive criticism. There’s only criticism.

I suspect Motorola has its reasons for maintaining a “global” NFL sponsorship rather than investing much directly with the 32 franchises. It’s a lot more convenient, that’s for sure. And maybe I’m missing something. For all I know Motorola is already running wildly successful programs with other teams, but I was unable to find them.

In any case, it would be really interesting to learn more about the strategies they’ve employed and the results they’re getting with motorla.com/nfl.

My blog is built for this single purpose – to incite open communication around “best practices” in on-line sports marketing. I invite anyone associated with this campaign to “throw me under the bus” if you can. I would love to be proved wrong here. If I’m mistaken, please let me know. Making mistakes is the only way I learn.

If what I’m saying hits home, then maybe we should talk. My opinions are offered as a thought window, a glimpse some other possibilities that might make an investment in the NFL really pay off. That’s what we’re here for after all.